Treat Her Right equal pay campaign launched

A new campaign calling for equal pay in the workplace has been launched this week.

The online video campaign, ‘Treat Her Right’, has been launched to raise awareness around the issue of pay inequality between men and women.

New Zealand has had legally-mandated equal pay for women since 1972 but, as the new Treat Her Right campaign makes clear, there is still a long way to go before pay equality is reached.

On average women currently earn 13 percent less per hour than men. The gap grows even larger when broken down by ethnic group. Pasifika women, for example, earn an estimated 33 percent less than men. For Māori women the pay gap is around 28 per cent, whereas Asian women earn an estimated 23 percent less than their male colleagues.

Launched by the NZ Council of Trade Unions, Treat Her Right is inviting people to pledge their support for equal pay in the workplace.

“The online campaign is an effective way of raising awareness about the significant gap between men and women’s pay. This imbalance isn’t necessarily driven by a disregard for the law, but by a complex mix of economic and social policies that urgently need reforming. We encourage everyone to watch the campaign video, share it amongst their friends, family and colleagues and sign up in support,” Cat Pausé, Women’s vice president of the TEU, said.